Rifles and shotguns are popular items for different activities, such as hunting, skeet and other target applications, and defense (i.e., military) uses. Many rifles and shotguns are produced with wooden portions, particularly in the stock area and underneath the rear portion of the barrel. Many gun owners enjoy use of such firearms, but also prize them for the elegant manufacture of the overall article, particularly the wooden portions. As such, protection from scratches, dents, disfigurements, and other deleterious results during use, storage, transportation, and any other activity may occur without proper handling of the subject firearm. Unfortunately, when in use, such firearms are usually handled in a manner that is apposite to delicate treatment; when hunting, for example, quick movement in wooded areas is likely and consideration for delicate wooden rifle and/or shotgun portions is generally the last thing on the hunter's mind. As such, it is important to provide such protection for such a prized firearm, while still permitting proper use thereof in the aforementioned activities.
Previous attempts at providing any type of firearm surface protection, however, have focused primarily on either storing an entire gun without access for use, protecting primarily the metal portions of such a firearm, or covering the entire gun with access for a bullet to exit its muzzle. Generally, these prior gun covers were concerned with moisture barrier issues, rather than providing wooden portion protection and/or shock absorption for the user during firing. Furthermore, the previous enclosures, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,247 to Gantress, U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,388 to Jones et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 7,185,607 to Pearson, all exhibit rather suspect articles that loosely envelope the subject firearm, or, as in the Gantress cover, appears to exhibit a rigidity around the subject firearm that appears rather difficult to actually handle during use. Access to triggers, sights, scopes, and ultimately the ability for a bullet to exit the subject firearm, all are compromised to a certain extent within these disclosures. The ability of the firearm user to confidently handle, maneuver, aim, and fire his rifle or shotgun is limited with these total cover articles.
To the contrary, the gun user would want a cover that targets the delicate portions of the firearm (i.e., the wooden stock, etc.), while providing not only an easy grip and hold exterior, but also shock absorption for the moment the firearm is actually discharged. Although these prior art covers may provide a certain degree of protection to the wooden portions of the subject firearm, the materials used therein are not of proper construction to impart insulation and shock absorption to deflect away from the wooden surfaces while covered. To the contrary, such materials (polyethylene, polypropylene, and the like) are intended to be transparent and/or thin to permit clear view of the firearm during use through the cover, thereby failing to provide to suitable barrier to large scratches, collisions with trees, metals, etc., during use, and thus failing to permit the user a reasonable degree of protection from such possible instances. Furthermore, the shock absorption capability of such thin film covers is, for the most part, nonexistent, thereby creating a situation wherein the user may fire the gun and, due to the resultant recoil, may lose control thereof, particularly with a loose enveloping cover in place over the target firearm.
As such, there remains a desire within the firearm industry to protect the wooden portions of a firearm primarily, as well as protect the user from the harsh recoil during firing, through the utilization of a unitary article applied over a target gun. As noted above, the concerns of the prior art were solely moisture protection; the hunter and/or shooter and/or military infantryman desires something different, particularly if protection of the wooden portions of his firearm is the primary issue, but wherein he can still fire the gun without removal thereof. As such, there remains a void in the firearm protection industry for such a development. To date, no such shock absorbing/wooden portion protecting cover article has been accorded this industry.